Signal Transduction:
The intracellular transfer of information (biological activation/inhibition) through a signal pathway. In each signal transduction system, an activation/inhibition signal from a biologically active molecule (hormone, neurotransmitter) is mediated via the coupling of a receptor/enzyme to a second messenger system or to an ion channel. Signal transduction plays an important role in activating cellular functions, cell differentiation, and cell proliferation. Examples of signal transduction systems are the Gamma-aminobutyric acid-postsynaptic receptor-calcium ion channel system, the receptor-mediated T-cell activation pathway, and the receptor-mediated activation of phospholipases. Those coupled to membrane depolarization or intracellular release of calcium include the receptor-mediated activation of cytotoxic functions in granulocytes and the synaptic potentiation of protein kinase activation. Some signal transduction pathways may be part of larger signal transduction pathways; for example, protein kinase activation is part of the platelet activation signal pathway.

1Department of Pediatrics & Human Development, Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, 2RECETOX — Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University

1Section of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2Section of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 3Department of Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 4Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, 5Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Illinois at Chicago

1Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 3Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, 4Institute of Biophysics, Laboratory of RNA Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 6School of Medicine and Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Zhejiang University

1Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Antwerp, 2Visceral Pain Group, Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, 3Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sheffield, 4Department of Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Postgraduate Medicine, University of Hertfordshire, 5Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Antwerp University Hospital